Name: Saddle of Lamb, a LA Milanaise
Ingredients: 1 saddle of lamb; 1 pound Naples macaroni; 2 quarts boiling water; 2 tablespoons butter; salt to taste; mignonette pepper to taste; 6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese; 1 small piece of glaze; 1 ragout spoonful good white sauce

Why it works: Butter and parmesan cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,163 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Saddle of Lamb, a LA Milanaise

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the lamb

Prepare and braise the saddle of lamb as directed.
When glazed, dish it up.

Make the macaroni

Boil the macaroni in boiling water with a pat of butter and a little salt until done.
Drain the macaroni and cut it into 2-inch pieces.
In a stewpan, combine macaroni, butter, Parmesan cheese, glaze, white sauce, mignonette pepper, and salt.
Toss over heat until hot and use to garnish the lamb.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,163 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Lamb + peppertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,165 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pepper + parmesan cheesetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,322 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,338 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Lamb + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,232 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Saddle of lamb: Forms the main cut of meat, which is braised and then glazed.
Naples macaroni: Provides the bulk and body of the garnish, holding the sauce.
Parmesan cheese: Adds savoury, salty depth and helps bind the macaroni together.
Butter: Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the macaroni.
White sauce: Adds moisture and creaminess so the macaroni is not dry.

The step that matters

Toss the macaroni over heat until hot. Reheating the pasta gently in the butter, sauce and cheese keeps it moist and evenly warm. Overheating can make the cheese turn stringy or oily and the sauce separate, while underheating leaves the garnish cold against the hot lamb.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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Saddle of Lamb, a LA Milanaise